Today, I’m talking to you owners.
With Visionaries and Integrators, we find that almost all the time, the Visionary is actually an owner in the business. Almost half the time, the Integrator is an owner as well. As owners, there are some special things you need to think about in terms of how you think about your role as owner, and, potentially, your role as an employee in the business.
Imagine a dark solid line above the Accountability Chart™ and a box above that. That’s the Owner’s Box™. That’s where owners meet and work together on major owner specific decisions. Really, that’s where you’re going to have your needs met as an owner.
There are two entitlements that you have as an owner. One is you that have a right to your share of the profits. The other is that you’re really the ultimate decision authority. You’re going to have your vote on some major decisions, or however that mechanism works for your group. You’re going to have your input and decision authority there. That’s it. What you’ll notice is missing from that list is that you don’t necessarily have the right to be an employee in the business.
As owners, you’re focused on the long term and greater good of the organization. You’re trying to put the structure in place that will get us to where we’re trying to go. You want to have the right seats in place and each seat will drive what the right person is going to look like in that seat. If you’re not that right person, you have an obligation to go out and find somebody who is the right person to drive this organization towards the interests of the greater good. If you are the right person, then we need you to step in and fill that seat. I just want you to really understand that being an owner doesn’t give you the right to be an employee.
Imagine someone who owns a baseball team. Owning the team doesn’t give them the right to take the field.
If you are the right person and you’re going to play in one of those seats, there are a couple of ground rules that I want you to keep in mind. Number one is that you must be fully accountable, just like anybody else that you would put in that seat. Number two is that it’s important that you set the example. Be what you want to see from all the other employees in the organization.
It’s also important that you don’t play the owner card. Don’t throw down the owner “trump card” anytime that you don’t want to do something or want the rules to be different for you than they are for everyone else.
Imagine, using our baseball analogy, that the catcher just thought it was a hassle to throw the ball back to the pitcher after every pitch. We’d have to stop and wait for the first or third baseman to come pick up the ball and get it back. It just wouldn’t work. It blows the integrity of the whole thing and certainly doesn’t help us win.
Remember, as an employee, if you’re not the right person in the right seat, you can be fired. These same rules apply to the owners of the business.
Three key points:
1. Owners working in the business must be the right person in the right seat.
2. Remember your hat. If you’re in the Owner’s Box™ wear that hat. If you’re an employee playing as a player in the organization, remember that hat and play just like they would.
3. Set the example. Play by the rules. Be what you want to see in the organization.
Come see us on RocketFuelNow.com. Take the Visionary and Integrator assessments . See where you’re great. See where you could use some help. We’ve been having some great discussions with other Visionaries & Integrators over on LinkedIn and Facebook. Regardless of where you are in your process, I encourage you to join the conversation! And finally, read Rocket Fuel. If you’ve already read Rocket Fuel, and you liked it, we’d love to see a review from you on Amazon. We’d really love to hear what you think.
Until next time, Go Rocket!
Cheers,
Mark
PS – If you know of other Visionaries & Integrators who you think might benefit from this message, or any related Rocket Fuel content, please pass this along to them.
Mark C. Winters
Co-Author, Rocket Fuel
Visionary, Rocket Fuel Ventures
FOLLOW:
